President Trump signed an executive order declassify any remaining documents relating to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.By James Earl Ray. The announcement came on Thursday, January 23, just days after Mr Trump Inauguration,
As soon as he signed the order – files related to the murders would also be released President John F Kennedy And Robert F. Kennedy, as well as King — Mr. Trump called it “huge,” and he said “a lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time — years, decades.”
civil rights symbol murdered in memphis On April 4, 1968While he was standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel. King, who was 39, was taken to the hospital, where he died of a gunshot wound to the neck, as CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite reported that day.
Why is Trump releasing MLK Jr. assassination files?
Mr Trump said in a rally Said in Washington, DC on the eve of his inauguration that he would declassify the files to signal the restoration of “transparency and accountability to the government”.
He said his administration would “reverse the superclassification of government documents, and in the coming days, we are going to declassify the remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther.” King, Jr. and other subjects of great public interest.”
What is known about the MLK Jr. assassination?
Ray, a repeat offender who had spent time in prison for robbery convictions, had been on the run for 11 months, having escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary, where he was serving a 20-year sentence.
On the afternoon of April 4, 1968, Ray rented a room under an assumed name at a Memphis rooming house near the Lorraine Motel. In early May, he was convicted and an international manhunt began. Ray was captured at London's Heathrow Airport on June 8, 1968. He was extradited and returned to the United States the following month, pleaded guilty and received a 99-year sentence.
Charles Kelly/AP
However, there were allegations that the FBI was also involved in the assassination of King, so a select committee conducted its own investigation. National Archives noted that the committee “recognized that the FBI files were potentially contaminated,” but it never uncovered evidence to show any collusion by the Bureau. However, the committee “noted major deficiencies in the scope and manner of the FBI's post-assassination investigation,” the archives said.
The FBI monitored King for years and targeted him through a counterintelligence program called COINTELPRO. The Archives noted that a Senate select committee investigated and published a report that exposed “the full scope of the FBI's effort to discredit Dr. King.”
The Justice Department launched a task force to investigate the harassment and investigation of King by the FBI, as well as his assassination and criminal investigation. It was also tasked with determining whether those FBI efforts might have had an impact on King's assassination. The task force ultimately concluded that Wray acted in collusion, but also found that the FBI's actions related to COINTELPRO efforts to undermine King should not have been continued and were “likely… felony criminal.” Were.
Which MLK Jr. assassination files have already been released?
National Archives website It contains information on the Select Committee's investigation of the King assassination, including its handling of Ray and the FBI's surveillance of King, as well as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.
Which MLK Jr. assassination files will Trump release?
White House officials have not yet specified which assassination files will be released.
When will the MLK Jr. assassination files be released?
The release or release time has also not been announced yet.